1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a toy cap gun, such as a pistol or rifle or other type of cap gun which contains cap firing capabilities. More specifically, it is directed to a toy cap gun having an at least partially transparent (translucent or transparent) chamber which has glow in the dark material of construction.
2. Prior Art Statement
Cap guns have been popular with youngsters for many years. Typically, caps are fed to an anvil and hammer and a trigger on the cap gun is pulled to cause the cocking and release of the trigger to strike the cap against the anvil to cause detonation. Upon detonation, a spark or flash occurs along with a loud sound. The trend has been toward caps with louder and louder noise as well as brighter flash.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,491 describes a toy cap gun in which a chamber is used to produce a dramatic sound and light effect when the caps are detonated by creating proper acoustics and by providing for a transparent or translucent chamber. The present invention is directed to toy cap guns which are an improvement over and unobvious over the U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,491 toy cap guns because the present invention cap guns include glow in the dark material incorporated into the barrel. This creates a dramatic night-time effect by having the glow in the dark chamber attract the gun to the eye of the observer before the detonation of the cap occurs. Additionally, it enables children to easily locate the toy cap guns in the dark, whether outside or inside the home or in a closet or otherwise. Additionally, there is a synergistic effect between the glow in the dark chamber and the simultaneous "lightening" effect of the flash in the dark. The glow in the dark feature encourages the guns use in the dark yet, due to its glow in the dark nature, it safely locates the gun so that it is not accidently fired close to the face or is not left in an unsafe area such as where a baby might accidently fire it. Finally, in preferred embodiments, the chamber is translucent and the main housing of the cap gun is transparent and, upon firing in the dark, the glow in the dark chamber creates one effect, the flash within a chamber creates a second effect, and the back-lighting of the flash through the clear, transparent housing brilliantly lights up the cap gun to create a magnificent yet safe firing effect not achieved by the prior art.